UOAFA Europey League 2018/19
The 2018–19 UEFA Europa League was the 48th season of Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 10th season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Europa League. The final was played at the Olympic Stadium in Baku, Azerbaijan, between English sides Chelsea FC and Arsenal FC — which was the first Europa League final to feature two teams from one city. The winner earns the right to play against the winners of the 2018–19 UEFA Champions League, in the 2019 UEFA Super Cup. Moreover, the winner automatically qualify for the 2019–20 UEFA Champions League group stage. Should Arsenal win the final, they will enter the group stage of the 2019–20 UEFA Champions League. As Chelsea have already qualified for the Champions League group stage through their league performance, should Chelsea win the final, the berth reserved will be given to the third-placed team of the 2018–19 Ligue 1, the 5th-ranked association according to next season's access list. For the first time, the video assistant referee (VAR) system was used in the competition, where it was implemented in the final. As the title holders of Europa League, Atlético Madrid qualified for the 2018–19 UEFA Champions League, although they had already qualified before the final through their league performance. They were unable to defend their title as they advanced to the Champions League knockout stage Group stage Main article: 2018–19 UEFA Europa League group stage The draw for the group stage was held on 31 August 2018 at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco.34 The 48 teams were drawn into twelve groups of four, with the restriction that teams from the same association cannot be drawn against each other and, based on decisions taken by the UEFA Executive Committee, clubs from Russia and Ukraine must not be drawn in the same group. For the draw, the teams are seeded into four pots based on their 2018 UEFA club coefficients. In each group, teams played against each other home-and-away in a round-robin format. The group winners and runners-up advance to the round of 32 where they are joined by the eight third-placed teams of the 2018–19 UEFA Champions League group stage. The matchdays are 20 September, 4 October, 25 October, 8 November, 29 November, and 13 December 2018. A total of 27 national associations were represented in the group stage. Akhisarspor, Chelsea, F91 Dudelange, Jablonec, Rangers, RB Leipzig, Sarpsborg 08, Spartak Moscow and Spartak Trnava made their debut appearances in the UEFA Europa League group stage (although Chelsea, Rangers, RB Leipzig and Spartak Moscow had already competed in the UEFA Europa League knockout phase after a third place in the UEFA Champions League group stage, while Rangers and Spartak Moscow had appeared in the UEFA Cup group stage). F91 Dudelange were the first team from Luxembourg to play in either the Champions League or Europa League group stage. Group A Source: UEFA Group B Source: UEFA Group C Source: UEFA Group D Source: UEFA Group E Source: UEFA Notes: # ^ Jump up to:a'' ''b Goal difference in all group matches: Vorskla Poltava –9, Qarabağ –11. Group F Source: UEFA Notes: # ^ Jump up to:a'' ''b Goal difference in all group matches: Olympiacos +5, AC Milan +3. Group G Source: UEFA Notes: # ^ Jump up to:a'' ''b Head-to-head points: Villarreal 4, Rapid Wien 1. Group H Source: UEFA Group I Source: UEFA Group J Source: UEFA Notes: # ^ Jump up to:a'' ''b Head-to-head goal difference: Sevilla +2, Krasnodar –2. Group K Source: UEFA Group L Source: UEFA Knockout phase Main article: 2018–19 UEFA Europa League knockout phase In the knockout phase, teams play against each other over two legs on a home-and-away basis, except for the one-match final. The mechanism of the draws for each round is as follows: * In the draw for the round of 32, the twelve group winners and the four third-placed teams from the Champions League group stage with the better group records are seeded, and the twelve group runners-up and the other four third-placed teams from the Champions League group stage are unseeded. The seeded teams are drawn against the unseeded teams, with the seeded teams hosting the second leg. Teams from the same group or the same association cannot be drawn against each other. * In the draws for the round of 16, quarter-finals and semi-finals, there are no seedings, and teams from the same group or the same association can be drawn against each other. As the draws for the quarter-finals and semi-finals are held together before the quarter-finals are played, the identity of the quarter-final winners is not known at the time of the semi-final draw. A draw is also held to determine which semi-final winner is designated as the "home" team for the final (for administrative purposes as it is played at a neutral venue). For the round of 16, quarter-finals and semi-finals, teams from the same city (e.g., Chelsea FC and Arsenal FC) are not scheduled to play at home on the same day, due to logistics and crowd control. To avoid such scheduling conflict, if the two teams are drawn to play at home for the same leg, the order of legs of the tie involving the team which are not domestic cup champions in the qualifying season – in this case Arsenal FC, or the team with the lower domestic ranking (if neither team are the domestic cup champions) – also in this case Arsenal FC – is reversed in accordance with the UEFA Club Competitions Committee principles. Bracket Round of 32 The draw for the round of 32 was held on 17 December 2018.36 The first legs were played on 12 and 14 February, and the second legs were played on 20 and 21 February 2019. Round of 16 The draw for the round of 16 was held on 22 February 2019.37 The first legs were played on 7 March, and the second legs were played on 14 March 2019. Notes # ^''' Order of legs reversed after original draw, in order to avoid a scheduling conflict with the Chelsea vs. Dynamo Kyiv match in the same city. Quarter-finals The draw for the quarter-finals was held on 15 March 2019.38 The first legs were played on 11 April, the second legs were played on 18 April 2019. '''Notes # ^ Order of legs reversed after original draw, in order to avoid a scheduling conflict with the Chelsea vs. Slavia Prague match in the same city. Semi-finals The draw for the semi-finals was held on 15 March 2019 (after the quarter-final draw).38 The first legs were played on 2 May, and the second legs were played on 9 May 2019. Final[ Main article: 2019 UEFA Europa League Final The final was held on 29 May 2019 at the Olympic Stadium in Baku. The "home" team (for administrative purposes) was determined by an additional draw held after the quarter-final and semi-final draws.38 Olympic Stadium, Baku Attendance: 51,370 Referee: Gianluca Rocchi (Italy) Category:442oons Category:League Season Category:Created from Richy2806